Page 66 of The Unplannned Project

“What do you mean?”

“Grove Communications is killing it. Peyton Sprawling has gotten almost everything handed off, and I foresee only a small amount of liaison work between us as we move forward. It seems a little stupid to have me on this still.”

Liam nodded, straightening. “What do you want to do? Does that role in strategic initiatives interest you at all?”

“I’m not that interested. I don’t love drowning in data.” Not to mention the hours on that team were a bit overwhelming. I’d have a brand-new baby who I really wanted to get home to. There was no job on the freaking continent that tempted me as much as that did. But my tongue stuck to the top of my mouth as Liam gave me a half smile.

“It sounds like you already have a solution. What are you thinking?” His voice was warm, but I could feel the urgency in his words. We may be friends, but my job was also business. Until I had everything in line, I needed to keep it like that.

I shrugged, nonchalant. “I have a couple of ideas. But nothing concrete. I just wanted to let you know what was going on.”

Liam slammed his laptop shut and looked around the room as if looking for something. I followed his gaze, a bit confused.

“I’m not going to fire you for being honest. I appreciate that trait about you. Why don’t you take some time to mull things over? The baby will be here soon. Our wedding is a few weeks before that. Why don’t we game plan as that all gets closer?”

I nodded. “Are you going somewhere? You look nervous.”

Liam pulled a face. “I’m off to taste wedding menu options.”

“And that’s bad?” I suddenly pictured Cici and me doing this same thing. Surrounded by food, laughter, my ring gleaming on her finger. The vision felt good.

“Not at all. I just have to pretend to be miserable so everyone else thinks I’m really manly.” Liam’s wide smile spoke volumes about how he truly felt.

I shoved at his shoulder. “You’re doing a shit job.”

Liam chuckled. “Thanks, man.”

I followed at a distance, laughing as Liam practically jogged his way to the stairs and down, eager to pick up his future bride. For a moment, I considered them. Liam was the prickly, heavy-browed workaholic, while his soon-to-be-wife was the energetic, sweet-natured devoted supporter of her family.

And they'd made it work. But how?

The idea hit me like a hurricane, swirling my insides up until the realization was so obvious, I couldn’t quite decide if I was shaking in fear or excitement.

Liam had given Ashlyn his future, let her hold it in her hands and mold it into something they both cherished.

Cici was carrying mine. But it was more than that. Perhaps even now she’d been going through this with me, but not with the future version of me. She needed to be assured that I wasn't going to ever push her out of her job or of her own decisions. I was bound and determined to help her succeed in life, however that looked.

I tucket my hands into my pockets, my mind still twisting with the possibilities.

***

I was early to our appointment this week. After our first ultrasound, where I’d almost missed the most important part, I didn't care how many death glares I got, I was going to be there on time. Cici’s fingers were loosely tangled in mine as she scrolled her phone, looking completely at ease.

I didn’t bother trying to look like that because I’d never be completely comfortable like that here. And that was okay, as long as I got to see my baby and support Cici. I would go to much worse locations than this.

“Cecelia Grove?”

They ushered us back, and Cici was tucked into a reclining chair as the technician made small talk with the two of us. We answered, but there wasn’t much enthusiasm there. I knew what we were there for, and so did she. We were both waiting to see our baby.

The lights flickered off, and the machine’s tell-tale pumping noise filled the space around us. I found Cici’s hand again, tugging it up to my lips as we both stared at the screen, waiting.

When the image cleared and our baby was broadcast, both of us gasped. It had grown so much in the past few weeks. The bright-white outline showed off the clear outline of our child, curled up in Cici’s belly.

“Ah, there’s baby. Are you two wanting to find out gender?”

“Yes,” we responded easily.

I gripped her hand. We’d wanted to find out from the very beginning, and that hadn’t changed, even through the ups and downs of the past weeks.

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